Electron transport through a quantum interferometer: A theoretical study

Abstract

In the present work we explore electron transport properties through a quantum interferometer attached symmetrically to two one-dimensional semi-infinite metallic electrodes, namely, source and drain. The interferometer is made up of two sub-rings where individual sub-rings are penetrated by Aharonov-Bohm fluxes $\phi_1$ and $\phi_2$, respectively. We adopt a simple tight-binding framework to describe the model and all the calculations are done based on the single particle Green's function formalism. Our exact numerical calculations describe two-terminal conductance and current as functions of interferometer-to-electrode coupling strength, magnetic fluxes threaded by left and right sub-rings of the interferometer and the difference of these two fluxes. Our theoretical results provide several interesting features of electron transport across the interferometer, and these aspects may be utilized to study electron transport in Aharonov-Bohm geometries.